Combined pencil holder and sharpener



P. .D. JOHNSTON.

COMBlNED PENCIL HOLDER AND SHARPENER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9-. 1920.

1,361,732. Patented Dec. 7,1920.

@031. Cat J 7 attorney PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL D. JOHNSTON, OF SOQUEL, CALIFOBNIA.

COMBINED PENCIL HOLDER AND SHARPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. *7, 1920.

Application filed April 9, 1920. Serial No. 372,729.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL D. JOHNSTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Soquel, in the county of Santa Cruz and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined- Pencil Holders and Sharpeners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to combined pencil holders and sharpeners, and has for one of its objects to provide a device of this character which may be employed either as a holder or a sharpener without removal from the body of the pencil or detaching any of the parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character in which the cutting blade is concealed and protected from contact with the garment upon which the device is supported, or the fingers of the person using the pencil.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction as hereinafter shown and described and then specifically pointed out in the claim, and in the drawings illustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a conventional pencil with the improved device attached.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the parts at right angles to the position shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the device arranged for sharpening a pencil.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section enlarged, on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The improved device comprises a stock or body 10 having pencil engaging ears 11 at one end, constituting a clip element, and a pencil point receiving socket 12 at the other end, the ears and socket being at the same side of the stock, as shown. When the device is disposed upon the body of the pencil, represented conventionally at 13, to constitute a holder, the socket 12 bears against the pencil at one side, and thus serves as a knot to engage the material of the garment externally of the pocket and co-acts with the clip element 11 to hold the pencil in position.

Attached to the stock between the clip element 11 and the socket 12 is a cutting blade 14.

The stock 10 is bent to conform substantially with the taper of the body of the pencil at the sharpened end, and the blade attached to the inclined portion of the stock, so that when the device is adjusted with the point of the pencil within the socket and the clip elements engaging the body of the pencil adjacent its tapered end, and rotated, the blade 14 will sever the wood of the body in the usual tapered form, while the socket supports and protects the exposed part of the lead.

By arranging the socket 12 on the sameside of the stock as the clip elements 11, the device can be employed either as a holder or as a sharpener without removal from the pencil; simply slipping it down over the sharpened end, as shown in Fig. 3.

The stock 10, clip elements 11 and socket 12 are pressed or stamped from a single strip of metal and bent into the required shape and the stamping and bending can be quickly accomplished by suitable machinery, thus reducing the expense of'manufacture.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the drawings and set forth in the specifications, but it will be understood that any modifications within the scope of the claim may be made in the construction without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

I claim:

A combined pencil holder and sharpener, comprising a stock having apencil receiving clip at one end and a point receiving socket at the other end, and on the same side of the stock as the clip, said socket operat ing as a garment engaging terminal when the device is employed as a holder, and a cutting blade carried by the stock between the socket and clip.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature hereto.

PAUL D. JOHNSTON. 

